The invention relates to a low calorie chocolate, and more particularly to a chocolate having improved softness and pleasantness with a lowered calorie.
It has been well known in the art that calcium and magnesium have functions to suppress an internal absorption of a cocoa butter that may be used as oils and fats of chocolates. When, however, the cocoa butter contained in the chocolate is absorbed, it has been still unclear whether calcium and magnesium are capable of displaying an appreciable degree of the function for suppressing the internal absorption of the cocoa butter.
Recently, in place of sugars, developments of various sweeteners that are commercially available have been a great success. A hydrogenated isomaltulose has been known as one of low calorie sweeteners. The hydrogenated isomaltulose comprises a mol-equivalent mixture of isomers, for example, alpha-D-glucopyranosil-1, 6-mannitol (GPM) and alpha-D-glucopyranosil-1, 6-glucitol (GPG). The hydrogenated isomaltulose is commercially available in the name of "PALATINIT" as a registered trademark. The hydrogenated isomaltulose exhibits a low efficiency in conversion into energy and an anticarious function that is useful to prevent teeth from decaying. It is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent application No. 5-260894 to add chocolates with the hydrogenated isomaltulose as a sweetener.
However, the hydrogenated isomaltulose also has disadvantages as described below. Chocolates containing the hydrogenated isomaltulose become tough increasingly as a time passes. Some of the Japanese peoples who had absorbed the chocolates containing the hydrogenated isomaltulose show symptoms of diarrhea.